Environment and land

A Central Administrative Court judge has given a preliminary opinion dismissing villagers’ demands to have a say in the Xayaburi hydropower dam project, on the grounds that it is not a state-owned project. The judge, whose name court officials declined to reveal, also said that a process ...

A Supreme Administrative Court judge rapporteur has suggested it will rule in favour of five state agencies accused of violating laws in their handling of the Xayaburi Dam project in Laos. The judge opinion was the case against them be dismissed, as the five state agencies in ...

Two major foreign-invested gold mining companies in the central province of Quang Nam will not be allowed to resume exports until they pay VND387 billion (US$16.93 million) in back taxes, a government spokesman confirmed at a press conference on 27 November.   Nguyen Van Nen was responding ...

A three-year investigation into slavery on Thailand’s fishing boats has uncovered a well-oiled system of trafficking, abuse and exploitation in the southern port of Kantang, leading to eight arrests this month, a campaign group said on 30 November. The owner of a fishing company, three enforcers ...

Over 100 students and climate change activists packed into a lecture hall at the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center at Royal University of Phnom Penh on 29 November afternoon for a “public mobilisation” to raise awareness of Cambodia’s position at the UN Climate Talks in Paris (COP 21) ...

Vietnam may take remedial action against imported steel as an influx of cheap imports has reportedly threatened the local steel industry.    News website Bao Dau Tu reported on 27 November that local producers have received support from Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. He ordered the Ministry of Industry ...

After five years in which the government had concentrated on economic reforms, it was now time to protect the neglected environment, activists say. Speaking at a 25 November conference on environmental laws organised by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, participants said the incoming government ...

A Kachin  civil society group is urging relatives of those killed in a landslide near a Hpakant jade mine on 21 November to reject an offer of K600,000 compensation for each victim, and has reiterated threats to press charges against those involved in the mining ...

One of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world was netted by local fishermen near Phnom Penh earlier this month. A two-metre Mekong giant catfish, weighing an estimated 90 to 114 kilos, one of only a handful left of a species that faces extinction, ...

With many companies in Vietnam remaining energy inefficient, the demand for consultation on energy saving solutions is high. The Ho Chi Minh City Energy Conservation Centre, for instance, has been offering consultation to more than 200 companies a year. Keep reading ...